Various devices have been designed in the past to facilitate the travel by a handicapped person up and down a flight of stairs. None of these, to the best of my knowledge, has proved sufficiently satisfactory to enable the designer to continue to furnish them upon the market. Some of them, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,199, issued to Nimz on Jul. 4, 1989, requires the user to move at right angles to the flight of stairs, with the net result that the handicapped person is required to repeatedly move backwardly or turn about, which is a dangerous requirement for a handicapped person because they generally do not have very good balance. Moving upwardly causes the user to repeatedly move toward one of the walls defining the staircase, so that the user soon is confronted with that wall and is required to move rearwardly toward the opposite wall, or completely turn oneself about.
Others, such as that shown in U.S. Design Pat. No. 287,283, issued to Johnson on Dec. 16, 1986, requires a plurality of half-step devices, one for each step, as shown therein.
Another device, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,735, issued to Meade on Mar. 31, 1981, shows a step pivotally mounted on the lower end of a cane, with the stairs having vertically spaced steps, without the assistance of others. The device includes a platform or block member having flat parallel upper and lower surfaces and vertical dimensions of approximately four (4) inches, which is about half the vertical dimensions of the risers of most steps in a flight of stairs. A pair of connector mechanisms, comprising keyed openings in the upper surface of the block member, are provided. One such connector mechanism is disposed at the central area of the upper surface of the block member, and the other adjacent one side of the block member.
A walking cane having a cooperative connector mechanism adjacent its lower end is also provided. When the cane is connected to the block member adjacent its side, the device enables a handicapped person to travel up and down the steps, without any assistance, by using the platform as a half-step and carrying it with him from step to step, moving up or down, as the case may be, as each step is completed. The device provides high stability and minimizes the vertical distance the handicapped person must move his body in each movement.
When the walking cane is connected to the central area of the block member, the handicapped person enjoys a highly stable stability cane in that the broad-based under-surface of the block member bears evenly upon the supporting surface therefor. The rectangular undersurface of the block member is continuous, rather than having bearing surfaces at three (3) or four (4) isolated locations, and thus it is much more stable.
Rigidly mounted within the block member immediately below its upper surface is a plastic socket member having a pair of rigid sockets therein for stabilizing the connection between the block member and lower end of the cane protruding when used as a walking stick, with all the dangers of slipping normally attendant to the use of a cane, which has a relatively small tip and is prone to slipping upon individual slippery spots on the floor or sidewalk. To overcome such disadvantages, others have designed so-called "stability canes" most, if not all of which, are characterized by three (3) or four (4) prongs which help to minimize the dangers of slipping in that more points of contact with the supporting surface are provided Even then, however, they do occasionally slip or, more often, one or more of the supporting prongs, which extend downwardly, is unsupported when the supporting surface is uneven, and the required support for the user is thus no longer provided.
Still another, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,796, issued to Blue on Oct. 29, 1954, provides a device for aiding a handicapped person up and down a flight of stairs, but is ineffective as a walking cane or stability cane because the vertical handle is fixedly attached to the side of the half-step, making the device too cumbersome and awkward for such purposes.
It is apparent from the above that a distinct need is present for a versatile aid for the handicapped which will provide assistance in climbing a stairway, and which can be readily and easily transformed into a walking cane or, alternatively, a broad-based stability cane.